a. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a mounting for holding a microphone secured around a person's neck, and more particularly to a microphone used to pick up the sounds produced by a person through bone conduction, said mounting being generally hidden from view for aesthetic purposes. The invention is designed for use primarily, although not exclusively, by persons who are able to generate only low-volume sounds.
b. Description of the Prior Art
As a result of various illnesses, certain people suffer from a partial disfunction of the vocal cords whereby they can produce intelligible sounds, however these sounds are of such a low volume that they are generally not heard by other people, and/or cannot be sensed by sound-sensing devices such as a telephone. In order to alleviate this problem, personal sound amplifying systems are available which make use of a microphone for picking up the low-level sounds produced by a person and coverting them into electrical signals, an amplifier for amplifying the electrical signals, and a sound reproduction means such as a speaker for reproducing the sound signals instantaneously. Preferably the microphone is an inertial type bone conduction microphone which senses vibrations generated by the vocal cords as they propagate not through the air but through the bones of the person. However until now the microphones used in these sound amplifying systems were mounted either in a helmet or by other means which made the system very visible. As a result, persons did not want to use these systems because the positioning of the microphone attracted undue attention making the wearers very self conscious and embarrassed about their infirmity.